


Unexpected

by moonsaero



Category: BLACKPINK (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Angst, F/F, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-12
Updated: 2017-04-09
Packaged: 2018-09-23 17:19:46
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,418
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9668078
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moonsaero/pseuds/moonsaero
Summary: Jennie is the ‘Queen Bee’ at the all girls private school, and she always gets her way. Jisoo is the transfer student that gets in her way. (TEMPORARY (?) HIATUS, EXPLAINED IN NOTES)





	1. 1

**Author's Note:**

> HIATUS UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE
> 
> School has been rough ... REALLY rough, and I don't think I can dedicate enough time to this story to make the characterizations and relationship dynamics natural. I also rushed into this story since the beginning, so I haven't had time to do adequate research ... that's led to me scrapping my initial idea(s) once I realized the unlikeliness of any of that happening in the setting of the story. Honestly, I'm more accustomed to writing darker stories, so this was a change I was trying for but unfortunately couldn't pull off with this story.
> 
> If I do come back to this, I'll probably restart from CH 1 and make sure it's much more polished and actually has a concrete premise that I can work toward ... because right now I don't know what the main point of this story is. I'm so sorry to everyone who was and still is waiting for an update; I'll try my best to come back to this, but no promises ... the most likely scenario is that I'll rework the plot with this same setting, so that means starting over. If it's any consolation, I'll be starting a new BP fanfic in a while ... this time I'm planning it fully so that such a hiatus won't be necessary. Thank you so much for those who continue to support me, and I'm sorry for disappointing you who were waiting.

The moment Jisoo stepped out of the car, she could feel her hands begin to shake. The air was more frigid than usual for September, but that was most likely due to the elevation—the Yvette Academy for all girls was built on a wide, spacious hill, but the hill itself was at the base of a small mountain. It felt more isolated than it actually was, because Jisoo could swear that they had driven past a bustling supermarket just a few minutes ago. That small reassurance didn’t do much to calm her nervousness, though.

 

“Jisoo, where’s your bag?”

 

At the sound of her father’s voice, Jisoo snapped out of her haze, and forcing her muscles to relax, she reached back into the car to grab her forgotten backpack. “Got it.”

 

Her father towed both of her large suitcases up the pathway to the school entrance while Jisoo followed with her backpack over her shoulder and the school map in one hand. It wasn’t that hard to find the administration office, though, even without the map. The lady behind the desk was pleasant, smiling as if her job depended on it. It was a refreshing change from the irritable folks they had asked directions from on the way here. She then directed Jisoo to go ahead and take a seat in the waiting room and that a student was on her way to assist her. Her father was free to leave since he would not be allowed any farther into the academy buildings when classes were in session.

 

He accompanied her to the waiting room, where he set her things down with an uncomfortable finality.

 

“I’ll see you for the holidays,” Jisoo tried to say, but it came out in the form of a question. She swallowed, trying to stop her voice from cracking.

 

“Of course,” her father replied, but the look in his eyes was distant—Jisoo doubted she'd see him before graduation in two years. He pulled Jisoo into a weak hug, and Jisoo buried her face in his coat, trying to burn the memory into her mind. He smelled like their rental car for the most part, but there was a small remnant of his typical evergreen scent. “Study well, my dear.”

 

Jisoo nodded, slowly letting him go. “I will.”

 

And then he left, and the room seemed larger than it had with him in it. Jisoo exhaled softly, unsure of whether she was relieved or anxious—or both. She had only just sat down on one of the sofas, tired from the long day of travel, when she was startled by three sharp knocks. Turning around, she found a student leaning against the inner door that presumably led deeper into the school. She was taller than Jisoo, and her blonde hair was tied into a ponytail, her bangs left to frame her face. She looked downright intimidating until she smiled.

 

“You must be the new student, right? Jisoo Kim?”

 

Jisoo cleared her throat, pushing her hair behind her ear. “Y-yes, that’s me.”

 

“Nice meeting you. I’m Lalisa Manoban, but I go by Lisa.” Walking closer, she extended a hand for a handshake, and Jisoo took it with minimal hesitation, trusting this girl's smile. “I’m most likely going to be your roommate for the rest of the year, so I’m excused from classes today to show you around.” She glanced behind Jisoo and spotted the two large suitcases. “Let’s start with moving your luggage to our dorm room ... cool?”

 

“Cool,” Jisoo replied, a hint of a smile on her face. She felt that she was on the relieved end of the spectrum after all.

 

 

 

 

 

“At the same time?”

 

“Yep! It’s a pretty small academy, so we have the same lunch period.” Lisa glanced at Jisoo out of the corner of her eye. “What about your old school?”

 

Jisoo had to pause to think. Yvette Academy was much larger physically, but based on the highly maintained interior she doubted that many people actually resided there.

 

“It was much larger than here, I guess ... we had A Lunch and B Lunch. The lower grades had lunch an hour earlier, during A Lunch, and the upper classes ate during B Lunch,” Jisoo explained. Then she resumed marveling at the cafeteria.

 

The ceiling was higher than she expected for the room, and the side of the building facing the mountain was covered in glass paneling (heavily reinforced, Lisa assured her). The view was spectacular, and it was complemented by the pristine white of the cafeteria itself, giving the whole room a cool, refreshing appearance. The large white and silver chandelier hanging from the middle of the ceiling gave the cafeteria an air of elegance.

 

Lisa was laughing as she dragged the gaping girl away from the double doors.

 

“Anyway, I have to go pick up a few of my class textbooks, so unless you want to come with me you can return to our room,” Lisa said.

 

Jisoo looked back at the hallway behind them. They had come in a pretty straight line, so Jisoo was sure she could retrace her steps. Besides, she really wanted to take a shower and maybe unpack so she could review some of the material before tomorrow. It wasn’t ideal to start at a new school a few weeks into the start of the semester, but Jisoo intended to not be dragged behind.

 

“I’ll head back,” she said, flashing Lisa a smile. “I think I know the way.”

 

Lisa nodded, and once she reminded Jisoo to call her if she got lost, she headed off in the opposite direction. Jisoo turned around and began to make her way back toward the dorm rooms.

 

With her luck, though—or complete lack of—Jisoo did get lost on the way back, sidetracked by the beauty of the campus and the mountainside, and she wandered around the building for almost an hour. Just when she was about to swallow her embarrassment and call Lisa, she finally spotted the familiar outlines of the dorm room doors.

 

"Oh, thank god," she muttered, letting out a sigh of relief. Finding her room number, she reached into her pocket only to realize that she had left her keycard inside.

 

Hoping Lisa had gone back to their room by this time, Jisoo knocked lightly on the door. After a few seconds, there was the sound of the door being unlocked, but the person who opened the door was not Lisa.

 

This girl was about her height, and had long, pin-straight hair down to her waist. It was a lighter shade of brown compared to Jisoo’s dark brown hair, more of a light coffee color. Her eyes were piercing into Jisoo, and her expression was unfriendly. “Who the hell are you?”

 

Jisoo was taken aback. “Oh, I-I’m sorry, I—” She shrunk a little under the intensity of the girl’s gaze. “I thought this was—that this was my room?”

 

The girl scoffed, rolling her eyes. “As if. Cut the crap and tell me what you want.”

 

Jisoo shook her head, holding up her hands. “No, I don't—I wasn’t—”

 

“Who’s out there, Jen?” a voice called from somewhere inside the room.

 

“Irrelevant,” the girl called back without turning away from Jisoo. She lowered her voice. “Because that’s all you are, understood?” She took a step out of the room, causing Jisoo to take a step back. “Now, if you can just tell me what the f—”

 

“Hey! Jennie!”

 

Jisoo turned to the source of the voice and almost collapsed in relief when she saw Lisa sprinting down the hallway toward them. She slowed to a stop upon reaching them, and then braced herself with a hand on Jisoo’s shoulder as she caught her breath.

 

“She’s new, Jennie,” Lisa finally said once she could speak clearly. “We have the same room number, but downstairs. She must’ve forgotten the floor we were on.”

 

Jisoo mentally smacked herself on head. Lisa was right—she had completely forgotten that they had walked up a staircase before starting the mini tour.

 

Jennie frowned at Lisa, but she didn’t look as pissed off as she had earlier. Then she turned to Jisoo, her expression the image of disgust. “You get off this one time, new girl.” Then she turned and slammed the door shut behind her, leaving Jisoo and Lisa alone in the hallway.

 

Lisa grabbed Jisoo’s hand to lead her downstairs, and Jisoo was thankful for the support—she wasn’t sure she could’ve made it without tripping since her knees were still weak. “Who ... who was that?” she asked slowly.

 

Lisa turned slightly, catching Jisoo’s eyes. “That ... was someone you don’t want to mess with.” She sighed. “She’s Jennie Kim, the most arrogant and self-important bitch you’ll run across in this school. Excuse my language,” she added with a chuckle. “But really, you don’t want to get on her bad side ... it’s easier that way.”

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i feel like we need more bp fics out there ... so i guess i'll try


	2. 2

Jisoo stayed in her room the rest of the day, declining Lisa’s offer to explore the lower part of the mountain. Apparently, one of the things they did for fun was spend time outside after school hours. It seemed relaxing, of course, but Jisoo wasn’t up for any more physical activity that day.

 

She was in her pajamas on her bed, lying on her stomach as she lazily flipped through a textbook. Math seemed like it would be the same as at her old school—ridiculously complicated and utterly incomprehensible. She hoped the teacher here actually knew how to teach for a change.

 

A knock on the door distracted Jisoo, and she glanced at the other side of the room where Lisa’s bed was. She could barely make out the outline of Lisa’s keycard, so bookmarking the textbook page, Jisoo got up. As soon as she opened the door, Lisa burst into the room, almost knocking Jisoo over in her hurry to get inside. Jisoo realized that Lisa was almost completely drenched, and there were some random dirt stains on her clothes.

 

“I got knocked into the stream,” she said before Jisoo could ask. “So, _so_ cold, I’m—” She cut herself off as she shivered. “I’m gonna shower.”

 

“You do that,” Jisoo said, and she watched as Lisa grabbed a towel and some undergarments before running into the bathroom.

 

“Knock if I take too long!” she called out from behind the closed door.

 

Laughing lightly, Jisoo returned to her bed.

 

Lisa was out of the shower in less than ten minutes, exiting the bathroom wrapped in her towel, her hair still dripping. And then, Jisoo gaped when Lisa slipped off the towel and used it to wrap her hair as she dug around her drawer for clothes.

 

“Wait—Lisa—” Jisoo turned away, facing the wall on the opposite side of the room, her face flushed red.

 

Lisa laughed behind her. “I have my bra and underwear on though,” she said, her tone amused.

 

“But you— _your clothes_ —”

 

There was the sound of drawers being opened and closed. “I’m looking for them!” After a few minutes, during which Jisoo steadfastly kept her gaze turned away, Lisa said, “Okay, I’m done.”

 

Only then did Jisoo turn back around, but her face still felt hot.

 

“Let me guess,” Lisa said, climbing onto her bed in her unicorn-patterned pajamas. “You went to a co-ed school before this?” When Jisoo nodded, a full smile formed on Lisa’s face. “Sorry, that must’ve been a shock. Since it’s an all girls academy, a lot of us are a lot more ... well, our personal boundaries are set a lot lower.”

 

“Oh,” Jisoo managed to respond, and Lisa laughed at her expression. It was surprising to say the least, but Jisoo would have to get used to it, she supposed.

 

Besides, it wasn’t like Lisa was unattractive—on the contrary, she was _very_ attractive. Lisa had a slender, lithe figure, the kind that many girls only dreamed of having, resorting to rigorous diets or even starvation—but it came naturally for her. Jisoo was sure that Lisa could be a model in the future.

 

Jisoo turned away before Lisa caught her staring.

 

“Hey,” Lisa said after a while, “You should join us tonight!”

 

Jisoo put down her textbook. “Me? Join what?”

 

“Our wing likes to play hide-and-seek a few times a month around this time,” Lisa said, pointing to the clock that read 8:30 PM. “There’s plenty of time till the ten o’clock weekday curfew, and it leaves enough time for people to finish most of their homework.”

 

“I’m not sure about—”

 

“Oh come on,” Lisa pleaded. “You didn’t even come to the mountain, and you haven’t met anyone but me.”

 

Jisoo grimaced, and Lisa amended her statement. “Okay, and Jennie. But that doesn’t count, does it?” She stood up, walking closer to Jisoo. “It’ll be fun, I swear!”

 

Jisoo sighed, mumbling to herself that this would be a bad idea. But she stood up as well, and when Lisa playfully cheered, Jisoo decided that her smile made up for it.

 

 

 

 

 

Everyone was in pajamas, which made Jisoo feel a little less self-conscious. She still felt a bit out of place, though. While the majority had relatively plain, simple designs, Jisoo’s pajamas had small unicorns and rainbows.

 

“It’s cute,” Lisa had told her. Then again, Lisa loved unicorns, so Jisoo took her statement with a grain of salt.

 

A few girls waved in their direction then, and Lisa waved back. “There they are!” she said, pulling Jisoo with her. Approaching the girls that she presumed were Lisa’s friends, Jisoo was glad that none of their expressions seemed hostile.

 

“So you’re Jisoo?” one of the girls asked. She had brown hair a little past her shoulders, and when she smiled her eyes seemed to smile too. Jisoo nodded, and the girl smiled. “I’m Seulgi.”

 

“Nice to meet you,” Jisoo said with a smile of her own.

 

The others also introduced themselves—Irene and Wendy; Jisoo couldn’t quite remember their full Korean names. Seulgi and Wendy were juniors like Jisoo and Lisa, while Irene was a senior, a fact that the rest of them never let Irene forget.

 

Lisa was still looking around for someone, though, glancing nervously from the clock in the common room to the entrance. Finally, she jumped up and began to wave her hand excitedly, and Jisoo tried to see the person she was waving at. Her view of the entrance was blocked since she was sitting down, but then someone pushed through the cluster of girls blocking that view.

 

She was also tall, probably similar to Lisa in height, and her dull orange hair came a little past her waist. She smiled when she caught sight of the group and began to jog over. “Hey,” she said lightly when she was within speaking distance.

 

“Hey yourself,” Lisa said. “Why are you so late?”

 

The girl ducked her head, running a hand through her hair. “I ... fell asleep?”

 

Lisa rolled her eyes, and then turned toward Jisoo. “This is Roseanne, but we call her Rosé.”

 

Jisoo smiled at Rosé, and now more accustomed to the new environment, she extended a hand on her own. “Nice to meet you, I’m Jisoo,” she said.

 

“Likewise.” Rosé grinned. She opened her mouth as if to say something else when a static cackle from the speakers in the room interrupted her. Jisoo clapped her hands over her ears, but the sound still echoed through her head.

 

“Sorry!” a voice quickly said. The owner of the voice then climbed up onto one of the tables to make herself visible to everyone, and Jisoo vaguely remembered Lisa pointing her out as Jihyo, the official class president. “Hey guys!” she said, waving sweetly. Jisoo wasn’t sure if she liked her sweetness or if it was over the top. “So, first things first, we have a new student joining our class today! Jisoo Kim, I believe?”

 

Jisoo felt herself freeze, a cold anxiety sweeping into her limbs. She could see Lisa waving to Jihyo and pointing out Jisoo, and Jihyo eventually caught sight of her. “Over there in the back! Welcome to Yvette Academy, Jisoo!”

 

Jisoo smiled tightly, trying to ignore the eyes of the rest of the class on her. Most of them seemed friendly, though, but she suddenly felt a prickling sensation on the left side of her face. She quickly glanced to that side, and felt her eyes widen comically as she recognized that pin-straight hair. Jisoo quickly ducked her head to avoid it, not wanting to see her expression.

 

“Everyone’s been curious,” Lisa said, diverting her attention. “Especially since you’re joining after the semester already started.” Seeing Jisoo’s expression, she added, “Hey, now there’s no need to constantly yourself as the new girl—they’ll already know!”

 

Jisoo murmured her assent, wishing she could have half the optimism Lisa had.

 

 

 

 

 

The rules were the same as traditional hide-and-seek. Though the players were limited to their own wing, which housed the senior class, the hiding places spanned the expanse of the current building, which included their wing and the senior wings (excluding dorm rooms), the common room and a few smaller rooms, and the cafeteria the connected their building with that of the lower classmen. The order they were found determined the order for the lunch line the next Monday, meaning the first person found would be last, the second person found would be second to last, and so on. The last person to arrive at the common room started the game, so Rosé was ‘it’ first.

 

Rosé started counting down from 60 as soon as her blindfold was secure, prompting a mad dash out of the common room. Jisoo took one look at the crowd of girls pushing each other over and backed away farther into the common room, looking around for a hiding spot right there.

 

“Thirty-six, thirty-five, thirty-four ...”

 

The tables were out of the question since there was no covering to shield anyone hiding underneath. Jisoo looked back toward the doorway, now relatively empty, but knew that there was no way she would make it farther then the common room itself by the time Rosé was done counting.

 

“Eleven, ten, nine, eight ...”

 

Then Jisoo spotted the large window on the far side. Two curtains, pulled open to make the view visible, framed it, and the curtains fell all the way to the floor. Without hesitation, she sprinted toward the curtains making as little noise as possible, and darted behind one of them.

 

Or at least, she tried to, but instead she ran into another girl who had claimed the spot before her. Jisoo automatically closed her eyes, knowing it was too late to brace herself for the fall.

 

“Three, two—”

 

But then she felt someone grab her wrist, holding her before she completely lose her balance, and another arm circle around her waist to pull her closer, and then she was behind the curtain.

 

“—one! Ready or not, here I come!”

 

A few tense seconds passed, during which Jisoo’s heartbeat pounded in her ears and she kept her eyes closed, trying to control her heavy breathing. Eventually, though, over her own heartbeat, she heard Rosé’s footsteps grow fainter as she left the room. Only then did she remember the arm around her waist and hand gripping her wrist. Jisoo froze.

 

With a sinking feeling, Jisoo slowly opened her eyes, only to find her face mere centimeters from Jennie’s. Choking back a scream, Jisoo pushed herself away so quickly that she tripped backward and landed out of the curtains.

 

Jennie smirked at her, holding the curtain a bit farther so that she could keep looking at Jisoo. “New girl can’t keep her hands off?”

 

Jisoo took a deep breath to collect herself. Lisa warned her to not mess with Jennie, but it was evident that Jennie liked to rile people up.

 

“You’re the one that grabbed me,” Jisoo said quietly, avoiding eye contact. She got up and smoothed out her pajama shirt.

 

Jennie snorted. “So I should’ve let you fall and given away my hiding spot too, right? As much as I would’ve loved to see you caught like that, I’d rather not be last in the lunch line with you.”

 

Jisoo pressed her lips together tightly to prevent herself from saying anything else, purposefully ignoring the way Jennie cocked her head at her in amusement. She looked around, intending to find another hiding spot, preferably as far away from Jennie as possible within that room. She only managed to get a meter or so away from the curtain before she heard the approaching footsteps. Seeing the only option close enough to her, Jisoo took cover behind the other curtain at the same window.

 

She could hear Rosé step lightly around the room before she got closer to the curtains. Jisoo closed her eyes and held her breath, bracing herself for the moment when the curtain would be pulled away, when suddenly Rosé yelled out, “Found you! You’ll be last!”

 

Jisoo opened her eyes, but the curtain was still in place. A smile began to form on her face as she realized what had happened, but then the curtain was yanked away from in front of her as well, revealing a grinning Rosé. She clapped her hands together in excitement. “Second to last,” she announced, and the skipped out of the room, leaving Jennie and Jisoo alone again.

 

Out of the corner of her eye, Jisoo saw Jennie run a hand through her hair, and when she glanced over she was met with a glare. “If you would’ve been just a tiny fucking bit quieter, I wouldn’t have been dragged down with you like this,” Jennie seethed.

 

Initially taken aback by her audacity, Jisoo took a slow breath, her patience reaching its limit. “You know what, since the start of the game—hell, since you first talked to me—you’ve been nothing but rude. Is that all you’re good at?”

 

Jennie narrowed her eyes, and Jisoo immediately regretted how she lashed out—even though she thought Jennie deserved it. “Oh, so the new girl has some claws, doesn’t she?” Jennie took a few deliberate steps forward, bringing her face uncomfortably close to Jisoo’s. “Do you even _know_ what I can do to you?”

 

Jisoo tried to back away, but Jennie caught her by the wrist. Her grip was too tight this time, almost bruising. “You are _insignificant_ ,” she said softly, and a chill went down Jisoo’s spine. “I can _destroy_ you before you even—”

 

“How were you caught so qui—Jisoo? Jennie, what are—”

 

Recognizing Lisa’s voice, Jisoo let out a sigh of relief and turned to see Lisa staring at the two with wide eyes. Jennie released her grip on Jisoo’s wrist then, and started toward the doors. “Watch your back, new girl,” she called out without looking over her shoulder. On her way to the door, Jennie purposefully bumped into Lisa, knocking her into the sofa.

 

Lisa didn’t retaliate, though, and as soon as Jennie disappeared, Lisa rushed to Jisoo. “What was she doing? Are you okay?”

 

Jisoo shook her head. “It’s fine,” she said, and when Lisa gave her a disbelieving look, Jisoo explained. “We were both in the same hiding spot, so she was a bit pissed about being caught first.” It wasn’t a complete lie; being caught first definitely had to be at least part of the reason. But Jisoo omitted the part where she had called Jennie out on her attitude, as well as the threat Jennie had left her with.

 

Though Lisa seemed like she wanted to press the matter more, more girls who were recently found walked into the common room, so she stopped herself. “Unless we want to stick around and help Rosé find everyone else—even though she doesn’t need it—we might as well head back to our room.” _And talk about this there._

 

“Sounds good,” Jisoo said, massaging her wrist.

 

 

 

 

 

Lisa sighed as she shifted into a pretzel style sitting position on her bed. “She isn’t usually that ... _aggressive_.” She paused. “I take that back. She _is_ aggressive, but usually she’s not as ‘in-your-face’ about it. I don’t think I’ve ever seen her get that physically close to someone before.”

 

Jisoo lifted her gaze so fast, her wrist momentarily forgotten, that she was surprised she didn’t snap her neck. “What? Wait, so—what?”

 

“Jennie, I mean. Did you provoke her or something? She has a pretty short fuse.”

 

Jisoo pursed her lips, stopping herself from commenting on said short fuse.

 

Lisa groaned. “You did, didn’t you?” Jisoo ducked her head sheepishly, and Lisa sighed. “Anyway,” she continued, giving Jisoo a wary look, “Don’t worry too much about her. Just ... avoid her from now on, and she’ll forget about you in a few days, tops.”

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so (i think) i've figured out how this story is going to go ... thank you for all your nice comments!!


	3. 3

Jisoo knew something was wrong when she woke up to a biting pain in her wrist. There was no bruising, fortunately, but it felt sore, and Jisoo decided it would be best to move it as little as possible.

 

“Remember to call me if you get lost and can’t find anyone, I can give you directions if you tell me where you are, okay?”

 

“I’ll be fine, Lisa,” Jisoo said, but she smiled slightly. It was nice to have someone worry that much, ever since her mo—

 

She refused to go down that line of thought.

 

“Well, your first class is right here, so I’m sure you’ll be fine ... just see if you can find someone from our group that can help you to the one after that.” Lisa bit her lip, thinking. “You know what, I’m almost positive that Rosé is in your class. Anyway, I gotta run—my class is in the other building. See ya!” Lisa said with a smile and a small wave. Jisoo barely had the time to wave back before the she disappeared and the door closed behind her.

 

Finding the classroom for her first period—literature—wasn’t too difficult, so Jisoo arrived early, with over ten minutes to kill before class started. She was not the first to get there, though; a familiar redhead was already asleep in a desk near the back of the classroom.

 

Approaching, Jisoo called out, “Rosé?” When there was no response, she called again a bit louder, and the second time Rosé jolted upward, eyes going wide. As soon as she recognized Jisoo, though, she relaxed back in her seat, resting her head on her arm.

 

“So you’re in my lit class?” she asked, gesturing with another hand to take a seat next to her.

 

“Yep,” Jisoo said as she sat down. “Are you always here this early?”

 

“Only recently,” Rosé said, and then she paused to yawn. Stretching her arms out, she explained, “I kept oversleeping, so I realized that if I woke up even earlier and just slept in class, I’d never be late.” She met Jisoo’s eyes. “Brilliant, isn’t it?”

 

Jisoo burst out laughing. “Very. But ... wow, that’s dedication.”

 

“Dedication? Me?” Rosé snorted, shaking her head. “God, ask any other student and they’d think you were crazy.” Jisoo shot her a look of disbelief, and Rosé held up her hands in defense. “Hey, I’m serious. I’d say I’m pretty average ... people here are _insanely_ smart, and I think insanely obsessed with grades.”

 

Rosé then sat up straighter, glancing at the clock before looking back to Jisoo. “Since I’m probably gonna be the only one you know in this class, I’ll give you a crash course on the academy, yeah? I think you’ll need one sooner rather than later.”

 

“Um ... okay?” Jisoo shifted in her seat uneasily. This wasn't how she'd anticipated their first true meeting to go, especially since Rosé didn’t seem to be joking anymore.

 

“So,” Rosé started, leaning closer to Jisoo. “Like I said, Yvette students are mad about grades. But okay, let’s say every decent high schooler worries about grades. Here—”

 

“But can’t that just mean everyone is really smart?” Jisoo interrupted.

 

Rosé held up a hand. “Patience, young padawan.”

 

Jisoo rolled her eyes at that, holding back a laugh, but let Rosé continue.

 

“As I was saying, here ... people are known to _hurt_ for grades.” She paused for dramatic effect, waiting for what she just said to sink in.

 

“What?” Jisoo furrowed her brow. “Hurt? Like ... other students?”

 

Rosé shrugged. “Students, teachers, whoever gets in the way. It’s especially bad with seniors since that’s the year the scholarships and recommendations are determined, but I kid you not, some students here are ruthless.” She opened her mouth, as if to add something, but then thought better of it. “Yeah. There’s the crash course. Just remember not to let yourself go crazy—the rewards for being the best are pretty sweet, but it’s not worth it—at least _I_ think.”

 

Jisoo bit her lip, still confused. If this was a scare tactic, then it was certainly effective, but it couldn't be that bad. After all, all the students—minus one—seemed to be at least decent if not also friendly. Then again, it was only her first official day of classes ... Before she could ask Rosé what she was about to say earlier, before she stopped herself, the bell rang, and only then did Jisoo notice how much the class had filled up. The teacher got up to take attendance, and class began.

 

 

 

 

 

Before Jisoo even realized, it was already sixth period, which was the last class of the day. Unfortunately, this was the one class she had been reluctant to start—calculus.

 

The room seemed to resemble her perception of the class. Though it was still elegantly designed like every other room and the academy itself, the window blinds were drawn closed, leaving the room in a dreary darkness. It was probably for the presentation that was set up with the projector on the board, but it still left Jisoo with an uneasy feeling. Luckily (or unluckily, since she didn’t want to be there), she had found the class rather quickly, so she had her pick of seats. She slowly walked to the back of the class and took the desk right under the clock at the back of the room. Jisoo knew she should have chosen a front seat to force herself to pay attention, but she also knew that if the teacher were anything like her previous one, she’d be better off learning the material independently while in the back.

 

Slowly, students started to filter into the room, and once the bell rang the teacher stood up to start taking attendance. Everyone at the academy seemed to have impeccable timing—not in even one class had a student been tardy.

 

Until, of course, sixth period.

 

Jisoo leaned forward slightly while listening for her name—the list was in alphabetical order by last name, and Ms. Seo had reached the letter ‘K’. She recognized Seulgi’s name, and was glad to know at least one person in class. And then, another familiar name was called.

 

“Jennie Kim?”

 

Jisoo went still. There was no answer.

 

Ms. Seo called again. “Jennie? Is she not here?”

 

Just as she was about to mark Jennie as absent and move on, the door opened, and in waltzed Jennie.

 

Ms. Seo looked up at the sound of the door, and Jisoo found it hard to read the subtle shift in her expression when she saw Jennie walk in. Sighing, Ms. Seo simply marked the attendance sheet and moved on to the next student. “Jisoo Kim?”

 

For a second, Jisoo saw a flash of recognition on Jennie’s face, and she could swear that the girl froze on her way to a seat. After a moment’s hesitation, Jisoo reluctantly raised her hand. “Here.”

 

Jisoo looked straight ahead, but from the side she could feel someone looking—no, _staring_ —at her. She kept her attention forward, though. This time, Jisoo was determined to stand by Lisa’s advice of staying out of Jennie’s way.

 

Class started, and Jisoo was glad she had read ahead on some of the material since the class was more advanced than she had thought. Unfortunately, that didn’t make her any more prepared to understand the material.

 

The student next to Jisoo, a sweet girl named Sana, seemed to struggle as well, but this seemed to be related to the language barrier rather than the actual material. During class work time, Jisoo simply had to clarify what Ms. Seo had said, but Sana understood the overall concepts. This didn’t do much to help Jisoo, though; Sana wasn’t fluent enough to explain the material back to Jisoo, and it didn’t help that Jisoo couldn’t naturally grasp the concepts like Sana seemed to.

 

By the end of class, Jisoo was ready to go home. Not just to her room, but _home_ , though she knew there was no way that was happening. Especially not because of a stupid math class. Not that that was the only reason ...

 

“How was your first day?” Seulgi asked Jisoo as soon as Jisoo stepped out of the classroom. She must have been waiting outside the door.

 

Jisoo shrugged. “Pretty good. Until this class, I guess.”

 

Seulgi laughed. “Hate math?” she guessed. Jisoo’s expression was confirmation enough. “Me too. But don’t worry, Ms. Seo’s a good teacher, and in any case a lot of the students are like math whizzes—not me though, I barely get by,” she added with a chuckle. “But they’ll definitely help if you ask.”

 

“Hmm,” Jisoo said noncommittally. She unconsciously played with the collar of her uniform shirt.

 

As Seulgi told her more about the teachers that Jisoo was lucky she missed since she joined this year, the conversation faded into mere background noise, like a TV that was left running in another room. Jisoo wondered just how helpful other students would be, and Rosé’s warning flashed through her mind: _Some students here are ruthless_.

 

And then another warning, slightly older. _Do you even_ know _what I can do to you?_

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you all for reading so far! wow, i can't believe this is getting so much attention already, i didn't expect this :O


	4. 4

The rest of the week passed by with no further incidents. Jennie was still . . . _Jennie_ , and she didn’t seem like she would change her view toward Jisoo anytime soon.

 

Lisa, though, had a new idea as soon as classes ended on Friday.

 

“You’re coming to the mountain with us today,” she said as soon as Jisoo returned to their dorm room.

 

Having just come out of calculus, Jisoo was not in the mood to do much of anything. “I dunno, maybe—”

 

“Nope, you’re coming.” It was only then that Jisoo realized Lisa was already prepared for the outing—she had changed out of the school uniform, which consisted of a white collared shirt and a plain, deep navy colored skirt. Instead, she was wearing jeans and a light hoodie. She tossed one of the two drawstring bags she had near her bed to Jisoo. “Hurry and change! We’re leaving soon.”

 

 

 

 

 

Jisoo could do nothing more than simply gape at the beauty that was the mountain behind Yvette Academy. They were still at the top of the trail near the school buildings, where the ground was relatively still level and the flora was well maintained. But then the trail dipped steeply as the area of level ground on the hill ended and the true wilderness of the mountain began.

 

“It’s so . . . _green_ ,” Jisoo said, and Lisa chuckled.

 

“There’s more than that, but that’s a good start.” She held up a hand to stop Jisoo from coming farther. “Wait, there’s a loose patch of dirt there. I think that’s what Seulgi was talking about,” she said. Holding out her arms for balance, she carefully sidestepped that portion of the trail, and then she held out a hand for Jisoo.

 

Jisoo gripped her hand tightly as she tried to copy Lisa’s steps down the trail, but her movements were sloppier and she almost slipped, her foot catching the edge of the loose patch.

 

“Whoa, careful,” Lisa said as she reached out with her other hand to help steady Jisoo.

 

Jisoo shot her a grateful smile. “How do you do that?” she asked, regaining her balance and continuing to follow Lisa.

 

“Do what?”

 

“You’re so . . . good at this. At moving around without losing your balance, how do you do that?”

 

Lisa laughed, but she ducked her head slightly. “I dance,” she said, and when she turned to Jisoo again, her cheeks were still tinted a light pink.

 

They were quite a bit behind Seulgi and Irene since Jisoo had stopped to just admire the mountain without starting down the trail. Lisa had said Seulgi knew the forest that spanned the lower part of the mountain the best, but Lisa didn’t seem to bad at it herself, especially with the way she gracefully navigated the trail while Jisoo struggled.

 

The forest grew denser as they went farther down the path, but sunlight was still able to stream through the branches since there wasn’t as much coverage while they were on the path. When Jisoo looked to the left or right, though, the branches and heavy foliage had filtered out most of the visible sunlight, leaving the areas in a cool shade.

 

“You know,” Lisa said suddenly, breaking the comfortable quiet. She pointed to a spot a bit away from where they were standing, and Jisoo realized it was a mini clearing. “That’s where the snowdrops bloom every year.”

 

“Snowdrops?” Jisoo asked. She’d never heard of the plant, but she assumed they were flowers.

 

“Yeah, they’re not native to South Korea . . . I think they originated in Europe? But some students who had gone on a trip to Britain brought some back and planted them here. It seemed improbable, but they managed to grow and now they bloom every year.”

 

Jisoo looked at the area closer as they approached. At the moment, near the end of September, the clearing was quite barren, only a few resilient patches of grass still holding out. There was a large rock near the far side of the clearing, part of it obscured by the shade of the trees right next to it.

 

“They’ll bloom in a few months though, sometime around February usually,” Lisa said, continuing her informational discourse. “They’re the first flowers we see here since they bloom when it’s technically still winter.”

 

Whether it was because of the awe evident in Lisa’s voice while describing them or Jisoo’s own curiosity, Jisoo knew she’d want to come back to see those flowers when they did bloom. Lisa promised to bring her back when they did, and that they could even have a picnic in the clearing if Jisoo liked it that much.

 

 

 

 

 

Jisoo understood why Lisa had looked so bedraggled the previous time she’d gone exploring. By the time they made it out of the forest and off the trail, Jisoo had fallen down multiple times, sometimes into not so dry areas. Once they reached their room, Jisoo wanted nothing more than to take a warm shower.

 

Lisa was kind enough to let Jisoo shower first. Then again, she hadn’t taken the unpleasant plunge into a mucky puddle that was deeper than it looked from the surface.

 

As soon as she got out of the shower, Jisoo was significantly brighter, feeling refreshed by the cool mountain air and the warm, comforting shower. And then she saw her bag lying open on her bed, one of the textbooks partially open from when it had fallen out.

 

And that was how Lisa found her once she got out of the shower a bit later; Jisoo was sitting pretzel style on her bed, textbook open in front of her and notebook balanced on one thigh, rereading the lesson they had covered in class that day and occasionally writing things down.

 

Lisa walked over to see what she was having trouble with. Her expression morphed into one of disgust. “I’d help,” she said before Jisoo could ask, “but as soon as you add trig into the problems I’m out. I don’t think I’d be too helpful, really.”

 

“It’s fine,” Jisoo said, sighing as she flipped the page. The problems were slowly beginning to look less like math and more like a foreign language.

 

After a few seconds, Lisa piped up again. “It’s a pity, really.”

 

Jisoo looked up to where Lisa was at her own bed, taking out of her bag one of the novels they were supposed to read for literature. “What is?”

 

“If Jennie wasn’t such a . . .” Lisa tapped her book glancing at Jisoo. “Well, such a bitch, she could probably have helped. She’s brilliant at math, especially calculus.”

 

“Really?”

 

“Yeah—wait, you know what? I think Rosé’s pretty decent, you should try asking her!”

 

Jisoo quickly weighed the options in her head, but it was unnecessary. Rosé was clearly the better— _safer_ —option. “Gotcha, I’ll do that tomorrow then.”

 

 

 

 

 

Jisoo and Rosé decided to meet up at the library that Saturday morning so that they could get a head start on homework and have a lighter workload the rest of the weekend. Unfortunately, Rosé’s method of arriving to class early to avoid oversleeping didn’t extend to weekends. Eventually, Jisoo decided that she might as well make use of the quiet library environment to do some of her other homework.

 

Before she realized, over an hour had already passed by, and Rosé still hadn’t shown up. Taking out her phone, she made a move she texted Rosé, and then noticing her still unanswered text from even earlier, decided to step outside to call. The library was getting full, and she didn’t want to be that one person that interrupted the quiet.

 

Rosé didn’t answer the first call, but she picked up on the third ring of the next call. “Holy shit, I’m _so_ sorry, Jisoo!”

 

Jisoo chuckled, and she was slightly relieved that Rosé hadn’t shown up not because she had forgotten but because she had overslept. “It’s fine, the library’s a good place to study anyway so I got some other reading done.”

 

Rosé groaned. “God, I’m gonna have _so_ much—are you still staying there? I’ll be over in fifteen minutes if you’re planning on staying.”

 

“Are you sure? I mean, we can just—”

 

“Yeah, really! I need to start on homework anyway, especially since I woke up, well, _now_ . . . and we can get lunch afterward!”

 

Jisoo glanced at the time on her phone. It was almost half past ten, leaving a good two hours before the dining hall opened for lunch at 12:30. “That works! I’m still at the table near the fiction section, in front of the large windows.”

 

“Okay, and I’m so sorry, again. See ya!”

 

After she hung up, Jisoo leaned back against the wall outside the entrance to the library. She glanced at her phone again, and scrolling a bit above Rosé’s contact info, she stopped. Her finger hovered over the screen, millimeters from hitting call . . . but then she sighed. It was a stupid idea. And if her father still kept that phone despite its lack of utility, well, it would be a sick joke to remind him.

 

She headed back into the library, but as she approached the table she noticed that there were even more people there than before she had stepped out to call Rosé. The seat next to her was still empty, but there were a few books and a binder placed on the table, indicating that someone had occupied that spot too. Jisoo was glad she had left her bag in her chair.

 

When she sat down, the girl sitting two seats over looked up. She had black hair almost to her elbow, and her face was framed by see-through bangs that seemed to be the trend. She didn’t quite smile, but she acknowledged Jisoo’s presence, and after a second said, “You’re . . . Jisoo, right?”

 

Jisoo wondered just how fast the news of new students could spread. “Yeah. And you are . . . ?”

 

“Nayeon,” she said, smiling slightly. She had bunny-like front teeth that only showed when she smiled, and they made her look adorable.

 

They whispered in the near silence for a bit about classes and all, and Jisoo was glad that despite Nayeon’s initial cold impression, she was actually a sweet person.

 

Then Nayeon looked up, behind Jisoo, and she waved slightly. “What took so long?” she asked, whisper-yelling.

 

“The book was checked out,” said the voice behind her, and Jisoo went still. She recognized that voice.

 

“Well, Jisoo, this is my roommate, Jennie. Jennie, this is Jisoo, the new—”

 

“You’ve _got_ to be kidding me.”

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so sorry for how long this took ... *curses at writer's block*
> 
> good news: the chapters should be getting longer soon?
> 
> good/bad news: bp comeback soon oh my god i'm not ready but i can't wait to die ldjflkjglkd


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